A Victorian church cancelled a couple's wedding after they supported same-sex marriage on Facebook

A couple who’d worshipped at a regional Victorian church for a decade had their wedding cancelled and banned by the local minister because their supported same-sex marriage on Facebook.

Fairfax Media reports that the couple, aged in their mid-20s, were to be married at Ebenezer St John’s, Presbyterian church in Ballarat, last November, and invitations had been sent out when minister Steven North summoned them to his office just days after the bride-to-be made a supportive post for same-sex marriage on Facebook saying “I know it’s something not everyone will agree on and that’s fine but this is what I stand for”.

North wrote to the couple saying “This conflict of views has practical consequences in relation to your upcoming wedding.”

The minister said that officiating over the wedding would imply that he supported the bride’s view, and if the wedding proceeded in the church, it would carry the same inference.

The Presbyterian church is opposed to same-sex marriage and is actively campaigning against the current postal survey on the issue.

The couple subsequently found another venue for their wedding last November wedding, with a retired minister as celebrant.

They wrote back to North calling his decision “absolutely disgraceful”, saying he knew they had gay friends who were attending as part of the wedding party.

“How could you assume that we would abandon them or degrade them with regards to same-sex marriage?” they wrote.

“We understand we did agree with the teachings of the church in our marriage counselling but just because we agree with that for our own lives, doesn’t mean that we have to push those beliefs onto others.”